Red Sister
by boshrocks
Summary: Horatio's sister turns up after being presumed dead and causes all sorts of trouble. Btw: I refuse to acknowledge that Archie Kennedy and Wellard died so they're alive in all my Hornblower stories.
1. How To Welcome Your Sister

Post Captain Horatio Hornblower stood on the dock of Portsmouth and stared at his new ship as his crew worked around him. He never thought he'd command his first ship. He'd been placed in command of the Indefatigable; the first ship he'd served on.

"Takes some getting used to, doesn't it?" his friend second lieutenant Archie Kennedy said stopping beside him.

Hornblower laughed. "Indeed. Big ship, big mission."

"You're a post captain now. Comes with the territory." Kennedy smiled encouragingly.

"Captain?" first lieutenant William Bush pointed out a woman standing behind them.

She was very tall and wearing a red dress and long red velvet hooded cloak. She had red hair too, and bright beautiful blue eyes. Around her neck hung a little gold locket with a beautiful H engraved on it. A small sturdy trunk with HH studded on it was on the ground beside her and a violin case rested against it. And she looked like Captain Hornblower.

Hornblower and Kennedy turned round to look at her. She blushed a little and her naturally red lips smiled shyly.

"Helena?"

"Do you know this woman Horatio?" Archie asked.

"She's my little sister."

"You told me you didn't have any blood family left."

"We presumed her dead." Hornblower reached forwards and pulled her into a hug. "What happened to you?"

"You know me, I survive." Helena laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "Well are you going to show me your ship?"

Hornblower laughed and gave an order to Mathews to prepare a boat. "William you finish up here."

"Aye sir."

Ten minutes later Hornblower led Helena into the captain's cabin of the Indy. She looked around and glanced at the maps on the table.

"She's a fine ship."

"And from what I hear, you're a fine captain."

"How is it you suddenly turn up after ten years?"

Helena looked shifty. "It took me that long to find you after he died."

"The rake who stole you?"

"Yes. After a few years I had to kill him." she said casually.

"You what?"

"I had to. He refused to marry me, didn't work, gambled away what little money we had, got me pregnant and hit me."

"He got you pregnant?"

"Twins. Stillborn boy and a girl who died a few days later. A year later I'd had enough of him. I wanted to shoot him, but you know me I'm subtle. I poisoned him. Sold the house and took what little money we had. I went back home but found that father had died and the house was sold. Then I tried to find you."

"Father died shortly after I left for sea at seventeen. Caught a disease from one of his patients."

"Sorry to hear it. That's one of the downfalls to eloping; you lose touch with your family. I earned my way playing Irish jigs in taverns and acting a bit on the stage. Eventually I heard some midshipmen gossiping about the antics of a certain lieutenant Hornblower. They were saying they wanted to serve with him. I flirted the information out of them and left London the next day for Portsmouth."

"I guess I have a reputation."

"I'll say. They filled me in. I liked the Gibraltar fire ship story, it was very you. Why must you be such a hero?"

"Lord knows. I have to do what's right. No matter what."

"Horatio, I was wondering if you'd take me along with you. Please? I don't have anyone else, and I'd make myself useful. I can cook, and I can keep the crew entertained. I see things that men don't. I speak French and Spanish. I'm quite a good judge of character."

"What about the rake? I wouldn't exactly call that a good judgement."

"He made me fall in love and charmed me into believing he was someone else. I've learnt my lesson since then, and now I can read people. I can take care of myself, I've had to learn to, so if it comes to a battle, I needn't be protected. I'm used to roughing it, and I can make myself useful. Sometimes persuasion can help glean information. Please take me with you."

"Of course I will, if you do help out. As I remember it you had a good sense of geography and strategy. You certainly wouldn't let me win at chess. You could prove very useful."

"I'm a useful woman. Where are you going to put me?"

"In with me probably. You know I really missed you, firebrand."

"I know. When I ran off with that bastard I kept imagining the disappointed look on your face. I tried to run back to you a dozen times but he wouldn't let me. All those ten years I tried to think like you; asking myself What Would Horatio Do? And the answer was simple: find a way out."

"We always were an odd pair; similar but very different. Me the mathematician and classicist, you the musician and bookworm. I was always sensible and you were too passionate for your own good."

"Yes, I follow my heart and you follow your head. I think we can agree which is best."

"Which?"

"The head. I followed my heart and look where it got me. You followed your head and look where it's got you." she gestured round the cabin.

"I follow my heart and my head. I do what's right, do my duty, follow my honour, and let my courage run away with me."

"I don't see that as a bad thing. That was one of the things we had in common; our remarkable bravery."

"Indeed firebrand. Do you know that you've changed?"

"You last saw me when I was fifteen, brother dearest. And I was not finished. I had to change, I had no choice."

"I know. It seems we've swapped a bit. I've started listening to my heart and you recognise your head."

"It didn't take me long to fall out of love with the rake. And asking myself what you'd do was really me gaining common sense. A bit late I might add."

Her brother chuckled and she giggled.


	2. How To Fight With Your Sister

No one had any problems with Helena being on board, in fact everyone loved her, except Kennedy. He kept his distance from her and this puzzled the Hornblower's. Horatio told her to try and get him to like her and, although she employed all of her feminine charms, he remained distant with her. Offended at her failure she desisted and sulked. She ignored him too thereafter and turned her attention to helping the helpless Wellard, helping him gain confidence and perform his tasks.

A few days out into the journey they encountered a French frigate. In the brief battle Helena had to aid young midshipman Wellard, as he was inept in battle and prone to panic.

He was stumbling through a swordfight with a large frenchie but he had very little talent with a blade and had Helena not come along at that very moment he would have been killed. Wellard could swear he saw fire flash through her eyes as she fired her pistol and placed a bullet in the frenchie's brain. She then grabbed him and told him to stick close to her.

Later Horatio called her into the great cabin privately and relayed to her that Wellard reported that he'd seen her using her gift.

"Helen, you mustn't use it. I didn't even realise you still had it."

"I didn't have a choice, my pistol wasn't loaded. What should I have done? Let the boy get killed?"

"Just be careful."

"I'm always careful. Don't worry I'll tell him he just saw the reflection in my eyes of the pistol firing."

That evening Helena drew Wellard outside onto the deck, mysteriously refusing to tell him why until they got out into the cool air.

"What are you doing Miss Helena?" he asked. Midshipman Orrock glanced round at them from his station on watch.

"I'm teaching you how to fight. A midshipman should be able to fight when the time comes, especially in these terrible wars." She handed Wellard a sword and noticed that his hand shook as he took it. "Do not be afraid. You cannot hurt me so you should not fear to learn. If you fear to learn you will not concentrate and then you will become careless. We wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

"No Miss."

"Very good. Now, fighting is like dancing. You must be light on your feet and keep the rhythm of the fight. Keep the control; make your enemy do the work. Change the line of attack but keep him guessing. Fighting's not just about using brute force, it's also about using your head. Now let us begin."

Hornblower, Bush and Kennedy looked up from their maps in the captain's cabin as they heard the squeal coming from the deck.

"What on earth…?" Bush said with a laugh.

Hornblower led the way out and out on deck they saw Helena lying on the deck with a sword at her throat. Wellard was at the other end of the sword. Her own weapon lay discarded a few feet away. Hornblower cried out in fury but then checked himself as his sister laughed and held up her hand and Wellard took it and raised her to her feet.

"Brother," Helena panted. "There is no need for alarm, I was just teaching Mr Wellard how to use a sword. And I have to say that beginners luck was something I had not planned for." She bent down and picked up her sword.

The officers laughed as Wellard blushed.

"He has talent but he has about as much rhythm as my brother." She spun her sword a few times.

"You were always the musical one."

"Yes, and I can see that I will have to take a new approach to teaching him."

"I wonder," Hornblower said slowly walking up to Helena. "if you are entirely qualified to teach him."

"Is that a challenge, Horatio?" she replied with a cheeky smirk on her face.

"I do believe it is." He silently demanded the sword from Wellard who surrendered it.

"You may want to move out of the way, boy." Helena spoke to Wellard but never took her eyes off her brother. "Let's dance, brother."

Some of the crew bundled onto the deck to watch as Wellard nodded and ducked behind Kennedy. Bush noticed that Kennedy never took his eyes off Helena.

Helena quirked an eyebrow at her brother and then danced out of the way as Hornblower made a swipe at her. Coolly she danced and dodged avoiding his attacks while putting none in herself. Her brother meanwhile was starting to sweat while she smiled. She kept batting his sword away with infuriating ease.

Horatio went for a desperate overhead slice and this time Helena stopped his sword halfway. The cheering crew stopped suddenly.

Everyone watched Helena, wondering what she would do. She stared up into her brothers eyes and wore a small self-assured smile. She held the moment and then ducked and tripped him up. He fell heavily and got up again quickly.

"So that's how you want to play?"

"You know it."

He attacked quickly and this time so did she. She was very good, a certain fire in her eyes seeming to add extra oomph to her swipes. At one point she spun herself close to him quickly. She brought her free hand down on a point just below the elbow of his sword arm and squeezed. He cried out in pain and dropped the sword as though he couldn't help it. She spun away and round to face his back while he clutched his sword arm as though it pained him. Almost delicately she put her sword against the back of his neck and her free hand gently round his throat at the front.

"Yield, captain?"

"Fine." He grudgingly agreed.

"And I didn't even have to use my gift." She whispered to him lowering her sword and letting him go.

"But what did you do to my arm?"

Helena laughed and turned him round. "In London I ran into a rather interesting Chinaman. He was kind enough to give me a lesson on certain pressure points and sensitive nerves in the human body. That one just below your elbow has the right nerves to paralyse the hand, temporarily. It makes the hand spasm, making the victim drop whatever he's holding. There's another one at the back of the neck which can knock someone out."

"Will it wear off?"

"In about half an hour. Knowing these things and not knowing the rules of war, and being a persuasive woman, all help our cause."

"How do you mean?" Bush asked.

"You may remember I was fighting that French captain earlier. Well, being a woman I can multitask which he couldn't. As we fought I flirted some information from him. I think you'll find I can be very persuasive."

"Not all the time." Horatio said with a smile glancing at Kennedy. He returned the look stoically but Bush noticed that the look in his eyes softened as Helena smiled determinedly at him.

An theory began to form.


	3. How to Get the Spark

Archie sighed as he stood on watch. Looking up, he saw the moon casting a bright white glow on all before him. On the surface of the full moon he saw Helena's face for a moment, smiling down on him kindly.

He looked down and shook his head, trying to shake her out of it, but he couldn't. She was stuck there firmly.

"O Helena, goddess, nymph, perfect, divine!  
To what, my love, shall I compare thine eyne?  
Crystal is muddy. O, how ripe in show  
Thy lips, those kissing cherries, tempting grow!" he murmured gently, quoting Shakespeare.

He hadn't been able to help himself. She was so wonderful. She was smart, independent, lively, witty, and she followed her heart. She was quite a woman. All he wanted to do was grab her and kiss her, telling her without words exactly how he felt about her. He hadn't meant to fall for her but now that he had, he didn't know what to do.

She was his captain's sister, and although Horatio was one of his dearest friends, Archie knew that he would never understand. Besides, the whole crew thought that Archie didn't like her, and she likewise.

It was taking all of his self control not to show what he was feeling and the result was that he was distant with her and not himself, which his friends had noticed. Archie wondered how you could feel so deeply but not show it at all.

His musings were interrupted by the sounds of soft violin music. Looking down to the lower deck he saw Helena in a light blue dress playing a sweet little Irish melody. Her eyes were closed and she smiled gently as she played.

Archie sighed as he listened to her playing so beautifully. Once more he had followed his heart and it was, once again, bound to lead him into trouble.

Helena played a wrong jarring note and stopped playing. She sighed in frustration and opened her eyes, the smile slipping from her face. She caught sight of Archie and the smile reappeared, brightening up her whole face.

She tucked her violin under one arm and came up to the quarterdeck and stood near him but not too near. He watched her all the while quietly. She put her violin on the rail.

"Need some company?"

"Can't you practice in the captain's cabin?"

She noted his rudeness but ignored it. "Horatio kicked me out."

They stood quietly for a moment.

"Why do you hate me, Archie?"

"I-I don't."

"All the evidence says that you do. Give me a chance. I'm a good person, really I am. And I've done nothing to make you dislike me."

"I know." He said quietly.

"Then please accept me. You don't have to love me but just accept me. You're worrying your friends with your behaviour. Horatio especially, and because he's worried so am I. Look it's a long journey to the Galapagos and this floating world works best when everyone gets along. I'm not Simpson, I'm not a vile bastard, I'm a spirited woman."

"How did you know about Simpson?"

"Horatio. I only wish I'd been there, I'd have given him a few things to think about." almost subconsciously Archie noticed that she was slowly moving closer to him.

Archie chuckled. "Doesn't surprise me."

"Why should you boys have all the fun?"

"Fun? I'd hardly call it fun."

She leant forwards on the rail a little and looked back at him. "Oh come on, I watch you boys at work, I have eyes in my head. And any woman who can't see emotions in the ones she cares about isn't worth being a member of the sex."

"You watch us?"

"Best form of entertainment."

"Why?"

"I like watching your faces. You're always ready with a smile. You have such a lovely smile. Cheeky and charming at the same time. Your smile tells me a lot about you."

"Really? What does it tell you?"

"It tells me that when you were a boy you got into scrapes, maybe not intentionally, and that you had to charm your way out of them. It tells me that you care, perhaps a little too much, and that you listen to your heart, even if it leads you astray. Whenever you smile I get a glimpse of that generous heart. You give without any thought of return. Just not to me."

"I am sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Be a friend. Find room in that generous heart for me." she snapped quietly, her voice cracking a little.

Archie looked down at their hands, which were centimetres apart on the wooden rail. Tentatively he reached over and took her cold hand. He retracted it quickly as they felt the spark that passed between the hands.

She looked scared for a moment then grabbed her violin and dashed down to the lower deck and then into the captain's cabin.

She impatiently shook her brother awake, crouching by his hammock.

"What?" he grumbled sleepily.

"It was the spark." She said excitedly.

Horatio woke up properly and laughed triumphantly. "I told you you'd have it. He's your other half, I know he is. The other half of your heart, Helen, the face that launched a thousand ships." He traced it sweetly smiling at her.

"Rather successfully I might add." She giggled happily, her eyes shining.

"Where do we go from here then?"

"Whenever we make a plan, it never works. I'll make it up as I go along."

"Well, this'll end well." Horatio said sarcastically. She hit him playfully and got up and put her violin away.


	4. Attempt 1

The next week saw a definite improvement in Archie's response to Helena. He still didn't talk to her much, but he looked a great deal and she sent lots of private smiles his way. Bush noticed this change and mentioned it to Horatio who told him quietly that he'd fill him in later, motioning to the nearby midshipmen and Archie himself.

Bush watched Archie as he watched Helena as she sang as she patched up the sails or stood close to her brother in the great cabin as they plotted their course. Occasionally she would ask a question about a country, pointing it out on the map and the officers would answer as best they could. She always smiled at them warmly however unsatisfactory their answers were and said that she would like to see them sometime.

Bush watched Helena too and smiled at the sweet spice with which she treated everyone. She and Horatio had several healthy friendly debates about the classics or anything even remotely trivial. She was very quick, he mused, and very funny. She was always ready with a bright quip that either embarrassed Horatio or made him laugh.

Bush noticed that she also had a talent for making men blush. She only had to look at Wellard and he was redder than a tomato. Archie too blushed when she beamed at him, but he was better at hiding it than Wellard was.

As the officers stood observing the crew they heard frequent giggles coming from the aft of the ship. Turning they saw Major Cotard sitting beside Helena saying things to her in French and making her laugh profusely. Unfortunately none of the officers understood their rapid French so there was no way they could keep up. Bush noticed that Horatio occasionally sent them a smile and that Helena winked back.

He also noticed that Archie was sending Cotard some very jealous looks. And that the pair of them had seen them.

Technically Cotard was supposed to be teaching Helena how to load a musket but their muskets lay abandoned across their laps as they gossiped.

Subtly William watched Helena. She was now listening carefully to Cotard, he seemed to be outlining some kind of plan. She nodded a lot and smiled, trying to hide a rare trace of fear.

"Horatio, what are they up to?" William asked him quietly, out of earshot of Archie and the midshipmen.

"Oh, he's just helping her along." Horatio replied aloofly.

"With what, if I may?"

"Use your eyes William. Don't you see it?" Horatio subtly nodded his head towards Archie who, as they looked, turned around and watched Helena as she laughed, throwing her head back and catching the sun. She caught his eye and stopped laughing, opening her fan and hiding her cheeks which, they noticed had become quite red.

"Ah, I see. I had my suspicions."

"And you didn't mention it to me?"

"I didn't know if you were for it or against it."

"William, it's my sister and one of my closest friends. Who, in my opinion, is exactly the kind of man I want for her."

"They are very similar."

"They both follow their hearts. Mostly into trouble." Horatio laughed as Helena raised the musket and mocked a shot at him.

"But she's getting help from the Frenchman?"

"Would you know what to do?"

"No, I have as much luck with women as you do."

"Cotard understands. He knows more about love than all the rest of the officers. And she needs help with him. Archie's too shy to do anything. So she's taking charge. Again. Oh the penalties of having a headstrong sister."

"Yes, but you wouldn't change her for anything, would you?"

"Not for all the jewels in the Tower of London. Not for the best ship in the fleet."

"Thought not. So what are they planning?" William noticed that she called Orrock over to them and he laughed and nodded, before returning to his station and saying something quietly to Wellard who managed a grin but while sending a slightly mournful look at Helena, which she noticed.

"No idea. We'll just have to wait. Like him." Horatio smiled towards Archie who looked puzzled. "Don't tell him."

"What do you think I am?"

William was exceedingly curious as to what the plan was but he managed to resist asking exactly what it was. He found out after dinner in the captain's cabin. They usually had dinner in here these days and Helena was always there.

William and Horatio watched Helena from the other end of the table as she sat beside Cotard who was being very flirtatious and kept feeding her titbits from his fork. She simperingly giggled a lot, which made Archie, in the seat opposite her, glower at Cotard.

"She's making him jealous. How clever." Horatio muttered to William.

"What's he going to do?"

As the meal came to a lull and Orrock and Wellard started singing an old Irish folk song, that Orrock had taught him. The others fell silent listening. Helena seemed particularly moved by it, she hummed the melody a little, providing a sweet harmony with the boys' voices. About halfway through the song the boys stopped and Orrock mouthed 'now' to Wellard who nodded and launched into a more lively song, which everyone knew and was soon singing along.

William, Horatio and Archie all noticed that Helena had got to her feet and pulled Cotard out of the room, smiling suggestively. Orrock watched them too and went to the little window which offered a look at the deck. He saw Helena and Cotard laughing and subtly knocked on the glass making them stop and take up waltz positions.

"Sirs, if I may, take a look at this." Orrock said to the officers who crowded round the little window. Most of them restrained sniggers. They saw Helena waltzing with Cotard who wasn't very good and stumbled and stepped on her feet a lot.

"Poor girl. She needs saving. Who here can dance?" Orrock said over his shoulder and sending a pointed look at Archie, which Horatio picked up on.

"Don't look at me, I've got no rhythm." Most of them agreed and said they hadn't either.

"I can." Archie said quietly.

"Then, for god's sake, Archie, be a gentleman and go save my sister's poor feet." Horatio almost snapped. Archie hurried out of the room. "Works every time."

"You are unbelievably sneaky sir." Wellard said with a smile as they saw Archie interrupt the dance and then dance slowly and elegantly with Helena who beamed at him.

"They both need help. And the two of you could have been a bit more subtle."

"It was Cotard's idea."

"What was the plan?"

"Give him opportunities to tell her himself. Set them up for romantic moments." Wellard said.

"I see. Well you might have told me, I think we should all help them along."

"Somehow I don't think we're needed." William said with a smile, watching Archie and Helena. Things seemed to be going well, and they talked as they danced. Suddenly Helena stopped and glared at Archie.

"This doesn't look good." Horatio said as Helena glared tearfully at Archie with her mouth hanging open. For a moment it looked like she would like to hit him but she stayed her hand and ran back to the great cabin in tears.

"What happened?" Horatio asked as she pushed past him to get to their sleeping quarters.

"Why do I bother?" she wept.

"What did he do?"

"Ask him!" she wailed before shutting the door in Horatio's face firmly.

When Horatio went outside he saw Archie banging his head against the wooden rail of the ship.

"Said the wrong thing?"

"Oh!" Archie started up and stopped. "Yes, I did."

"Do we have to lock you in a room together?"

"I thought you didn't approve."

"If you'd asked then you'd know that I'm all for it. Look, I want my sister to be happy, and I think you would make her happy."

"I want to, so much. But whenever I try to tell her that I… you know…"

"Love her?"

"Exactly. Whenever I try, I always say the wrong things."

"What was it this time? It seemed pretty bad."

"I was about to tell her the truth but then it came out as I love the sea and I didn't love her."

"You stupid boy."

"Was she very upset?"

"My sister never cries, but I'll bet you my ship she's crying on William's shoulder right now. She was certainly crying when I left her."

"Oh dear."

"Yeah. For making my sister cry I should hurt you. Instead I'm going to help you."


End file.
